Nunavut MLAs censure South Baffin member for drunk driving conviction

David Joanasie, MLA for South Baffin, got what amounts to a stern warning for “unacceptable conduct” in the legislative assembly’s first day of the fall sitting, Oct. 21, when members passed a motion to censure him for actions that led to a drunk driving charge in Charlottetown, P.E.I. in July. (PHOTO BY PETER VARGA)

Nunavut’s legislative assembly reprimanded South Baffin MLA, David Joanasie, Oct. 21, for a drunk driving charge stemming from an incident in Prince Edward Island this past summer.

MLAs voted unanimously to censure Joanasie on the first day of the assembly’s fall session.

The censure amounts to a warning, and won’t affect Joanasie’s work as representative of South Baffin, said Iqaluit-Tasiluk MLA George Hickes, who tabled the motion.

“It’s basically the first level of discipline that the legislative assembly can do,” Hickes told Nunatsiaq News. “It has no impact on his day-to-day duties.”

“If that type of behaviour ever happens again, then there could be a lot more serious consequences,” he said.

Joanasie pleaded guilty to a charge of impaired driving in the provincial court of Prince Edward Island, July 24.

The conviction arises from a July 7 incident in Charlottetown, when he was charged for driving with a blood-alcohol level higher than .08 per cent, or more than double the legal limit.

A P.E.I. judge ordered the 31-year-old MLA to pay $1,700 in fines and suspended his driver’s license for 12 months. Joanasie is serving the terms of his probation — which ends in July 2015 — in Nunavut.

Immediately after Hickes tabled the motion to censure him, Joanasie delivered an apology.

“Mr. Speaker, I am extremely thankful that nobody was injured in this incident, and that it did no harm other than to my reputation,” he said.

“I want to take this opportunity to state that my experience through this ordeal has made me re-evaluate my relationship with alcohol. It can be a lesson for others,” Joanasie said.

“I want to make it perfectly clear that I am not blaming alcohol for my actions,” he said.

“The blame lies entirely with me, as it was my choice to consume alcohol, which led to my unacceptable conduct.”

The MLA described, “for the benefit of public record” the status of his probation, and the judicial proceedings that led to it.

Joanasie said his court-ordered fines included a $500 charitable donation, which he made to the Iqaluit-based Arctic Children and Youth Foundation, he said.

“I was expecting the worst, and I’m relieved of the outcome,” Joanasie told Nunatsiaq News after the session. “Now I can focus on being a better MLA.”

“My main message has been to take responsibility for your actions,” he said.

Joanasie is the second MLA to have faced criminal charges since the fourth legislative assembly convened last November.

The first was Samuel Nuqingaq, MLA for Uqqummiut, who faces charges of assault and being unlawfully in a dwelling-house, stemming from a Feb. 24 incident in Qikiqtarjuaq.

Nuqingaq is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 29 in Qikiqtarjuaq.

The Uqqummiut MLA has already served two suspensions from the assembly.

The first related to absences from meetings and regular proceedings, and the second for unspecified reasons.

Nuqingaq voluntarily entered a 60-day counseling program for alcohol abuse during the second suspension, which expired in July.

The opening of the assembly’s fall session marked the first day that Nuqingaq has attended a regular sitting since his suspensions.

The day also brought welcome news to Nuqingaq, when the assembly passed a motion to appoint him to three standing committees.

The MLA will serve on the committees of legislation, oversight of government operations and public accounts, and the committee on community and economic development.